Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Underachiever Minette "Mini" Monroe has long dreamt of how much better life would be if only she were in charge of the world, said world being the independent bookstore in Westport, CT, where she's worked for the past half dozen years. After her beloved boss Colin Quimby is murdered, Mini gets her wish and also gets a chance to solve the case, aided by hot young Officer Michael "Mickey" Maus. Despite his unfortunate nickname - would any woman really voluntarily become part of Mini and Mickey Maus? - Mini takes a shine to him, but there's no real time for romance, not when Mini has her hands full dealing with Colin's viper's nest full of ex-wives, offspring, former business partners and current business rivals, all of whom had good reason to want to see Colin dead. Who will turn out to be the guilty party? The only way to find out is to read WAITING FOR DEAD MEN'S SHOES, a madcap comedic novel that proves that the Shakespeare Unabridged Globe and the Oxford English Dictionary are still a girl's best weapons.
Show More Show Less. GOODREADS

Good Gladys ( Embrace the Dead ) by Martin Renaud

A murder mystery with a psychic twist. 

News reports that the famous psychic Good Gladys is missing coincide with the brutal stabbing of her business manager. Gladys's daughter Dara asks an old friend, private investigator Byrne Aase, to help find the murderer. She claims that the man the police have in custody is innocent. In fact, she believes that the accused is her mother, having been transformed into a man during a seance gone awry.GOODREADS




"She has no shame, " thought Sauce......... 

Sauce? yes, that is our protagonists name. It just seems like a really odd name. I think it was mentioned somewhere why he has that nickname but I didn't get it. or is it only because he drinks a lot. First impressions aside: you will love Sauce a.k.a Byrne Aase. 

The story is told from Sauce's POV. This whole book reminds me of one of those old school detective shows or are they games. There's a bunch of people in a house, there's a mystery and they have to solve it. I love those mysteries even if I have a tendency to blame the butler. Good Gladys reminds me of those kind of mysteries  because of the way the characters talked, the way Sauce investigated things and the overall development of the mystery. Together with the protagonist the reader finds clues and tries to figure things out. And when there's a random element thrown in the game like being brought to the governors house, and hearing said governor share his utmost conviction in a psychic who claims to be punished by God and sent back to do a selfless act. You as a reader are as shocked as Sauce. Although it felt like this in the beginning the mood suddenly changes halfway through the book and becomes more suspenseful and bloody.

I'd already chosen sides when I had read chapter one, when I got over the weird name thing. Sauce is this good guy, naive and gullible. He's like a puppy you find on the street, you just know you can't leave it there. That's how easily I got attached to Sauce. Then Dara, his ex shows up asking for his help. Dara is manipulative. In romance novels when the guy forces the girl to go shopping it's romantic but when Dara forces Sauce to go shopping, remodels his whole house. It's aggravating. Sauce's skepticism about the whole psychic thing seeps though the pages or maybe my skepticism  seeps into the book combines with Sauce's skepticism which makes it a really engaging read. Sauce gets curious about the case and gets involved. I had hoped he wouldn't, I had hoped he just wouldn't do what Dara wanted but then there wouldn't be a story.

The way the story unfolds is entertaining. It started to get really interesting when Sauce gets abducted by this crazy family of psychopaths.  Their kids were just excited when they were told they'd get to break Sauces fingers. Of course Sauce gets rescued and when he wakes up the mystery is just about solved.

The last chapters were ridiculous and unbelievable. You know Gladys is a fraud but there are all these people who believe in her ,who willingly allow themselves to be manipulated. Good Gladys the psychic claims on a talk-show to have met Adam and Eve. Claims to have been punished by God and that's why she's in a man's body. and the audience believes her. Sheep, they're all sheep. The one psychic who came back from the other side. Gladys is arrogant, annoying an manipulative. oh and she's also Dara. Turns out the real Gladys died and Dara has been impersonating her to keep the enterprise going.

This is different  from anything else I've read. It's a unique story and a entertaining one. The characters are funny and fascinating  next to Sauce I like the former secret agent, BT who helped Sauce on the investigation and Sauce's cop friend Hammi. I hated Dara because she was so manipulative and overbearing as was Gladys. Gladys sometimes reminded me of those religious people that come to your house. Although I disliked these characters they made the story moving (by this I mean I was annoyed and pissed at what they were doing. Those are emotions as well). 

I enjoyed this book and would love to read more about Sauce. The characterization is great, the writing is awesome. The mystery wasn't complicated and the revelation didn't surprise me. Although getting to know how Gladys tricked everybody was interesting, like finding out how a magician does his tricks. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good old mystery book.

Grade: 

** I was asked to review this book by the author. He said it was a suspenseful, witty,fun and engaging book which it definitely is.

Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum #13 ) by Janet Evanovich

MISTAKE #1

Dickie Orr. Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her arch-nemesis Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping to never see either one of them again.

MISTAKE #2

Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carlos Manoso (a.k.a. Ranger). Ranger needs her to meet with Dickie and find out if he's doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out, he's also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger's favors always come with a price...

MISTAKE #3

Going completely nutso while doing the favor for Ranger, and trying to apply bodily injury to Dickie in front of the entire office. Now Dickie has disappeared and Stephanie is the natural suspect in his disappearance. Is Dickie dead? Can he be found? And can Stephanie Plum stay one step ahead in this new, dangerous game? Joe Morelli, the hottest cop in Trenton, NJ is also keeping Stephanie on her toes-and he may know more than he's saying about many things in Stephanie's life. It's a cat-and-mouse game for Stephanie Plum, where the ultimate prize might be her life. Dust jacket

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This was one hell of a ride, easiest book I've ever read. Stephanie is awesome and the situations she gets into are ridiculous and unbelievable. The humor is one of a kind and puts a smile on your face. Stephanie's a bounty hunter and the things she does on the job , the trouble she gets into, the people she meets and her family,  friends, arch-nemesis that make for a great cast,  makes the whole series something else.

This is book 13 in the series, but some of you might have already  seen the movie One For The Money , which is based on the first book, in which you've  met certain characters already: Morelli, Ranger, Lula and Stephs family . All of them are in this book too, can't say anything about new characters as I'm new to the series. Lean Mean Thirteen is crazy, we got steph getting tazed (twice), rodents exploding, steph stapling some goons balls together (oh yeah, and it was an electric stapler...ouch),steph's ex-hubby's girlfriend stalking her, running through graveyards and a whole lot of other crazy stuff.

Steph partners up with Lula a lot. I like the situations they get into and I like Lula because she reminds me of my friend Lola. 

There's this one scene where steph and Lula work on this one assignment to bring in a guy who robes graves, they  go looking for the guy at his house and this guy has a snake;

"I don't think  anybodies home " Lula said." I didn't see any cars in the yard.""I'm going to snoop around anyways. are you coming?""I suppose, but if I see that snake, I'm outta there. I hate snakes. I don't care if that snake wraps itself around your neck, I'm telling you right now, I'm not staying to help"

Yeah, just like my friend Lola, she hates snakes too and would probably do the same or push me toward the snake and run. run like hell.

There's a lot to like about this book, like Bob. Morreli has this dog ,Bob. I don't like dogs or cats or kittens. I tell people this all the time. I even tell Lola, but Lola doesn't seem to understand this, she's always posting these ridiculously 'cute' pictures of cats on my FB wall. It's annoying. Lola has to be stopped. Maybe I should get her a snake....... that explodes. Anyways back to  Bob, clearly the number one reason to like him is his name, 'Bob'.

Description of Bob:

 "He has a routine. He eats the couch. He takes a nap. He gnaws on a dining room table leg. He takes a nap. He spreads the garbage all over the kitchen floor. He takes a nap."

Naps!! I love naps! Bob loves naps!! I love Bob, I could totally love Bob as a pet. He loves naps and he's fictional. How much attention could he need and he'd never die on me.

So between Lula's crazy character, the trouble Steph gets into and her crazy family. There's also this triangle situation happening between her , Morreli and Ranger. I hate triangles, they're stupid. But this situation is entertaining and fun. Steph and Morreli are a couple now, and Ranger helps Steph out but also shamelessly flirts with her. He cares about her. It's a crazy entertaining trio.

Everything gets resolved in the end , turns out Steph's ex was being protected by Morreli cuz he knew something about the firm he worked for. Steph saves the day and there's clean laundry. But there's a time bomb waiting to happen. Because when Morreli finds the underwear with Rangers name on it there's gonna be some Italian arguing happening. So if you're in the mood for something light and entertaining , this is your book.

Grade:

The Confession by John Grisham

An innocent man is about to be executed.

Only a guilty man can save him.

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?GOODREADS
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Lawyers.........I've never liked 'em. Although Grisham sure knows how to make them look human and make them look like the damn blood sucking vampires that they are. The confession is a great book and argument about why the death penalty shouldn't be allowed. There are arguments pro and contra. I enjoyed reading this , the setting is great and the characters diverse:  moving and repulsive. You know that feeling you get when something unjust is happening, a feeling of anger mixed with confusion and shock that it's happening. There's probably a word for that. Well there's a lot of that going on, it's just ridiculous. Donte Drumm gets convicted for murder. There's no body. The confession itself is bogus. Even I can see that and I don't even know what the insurance certificate to my car looks like! Then there's the actual confession in the book, you have Donte "confessing" and while he does this the officer interrogating him keeps "correcting" him. He's leading the confession, how can he know the details better than the alleged killer! come on!!.  that's not even the half of the bullshit , during the trial it turns out the judge is having an affair with the prosecutor and they frigging cross examine a dog, they put an actual dog on the witness stand! yes, this happened  in Taxes, but somebody should have been smacked upside the head!

Then there's Boyette. The actual killer, he goes and confesses to the priest who then takes it on to bring Boyette to Texas to try and stop the execution. I should have known better! I freaking got my hopes up! I thought Donte would be saved. We read a lot about Donte's live , he had a promising future, comes from a good family.He always knew he was innocent, his family had faith in his innocence and so did his Lawyer Robby flak. Donte is portrayed as an innocent man and a good kid that got wronged by the system and spent the rest of his life  in prison for something he didn't do. And just hours ,minutes before the execution when Boyette reaches Texas , confesses and Flak tries to make an appeal for more time. Just a couple of more hours,that's all that was needed, to investigate and exonerate Donte Drumm. Bureaucracy got in the way and wouldn't allow that, Donte Drumm gets executed. A innocent man gets murdered by the state.

He's memory gets justice when Boyette takes them to the body. This brings a backlash to the judicial system and   questions the death penalty. The thing that people have always feared has happened. It still isn't enough to abolish the death penalty.

Although I have a slight dislike for lawyers doesn't mean I hate them. I have an uncle who's a lawyer and I've grown to like Robbie Flak, he's a compassionate lawyer who defends the small people against the corporate monkeys or bad guys trying to rip them off. Flak also has a good character , he defended Donte free of charge even puts his own money on the line, he believed in Donte's innocence and saw that the whole case against Donte was BS. Flak grew close to the Drumm family and to Donte and felt the loss just as hard as they did. Flak's a great character and amusing one, he holds a record for being held in contempt for calling prosecutors and judges (you know the monkeys) SOB's ,he even called the dog that was on trial on the Drumm case a SOB. Who wouldn't love his character.

There's also a racial tint to the story, I suppose Donte being black was also easier to accept, "ofcourse the black guy could kill the girl". Following the execution , this caused some tension in the town between the whites and the blacks. Nobody got shot tho. this didn't  escalate into violence either, the situation was taken down in a peaceful way. The Donte brothers go to the school and try to calm things down through the football teams, following Boyette's confession, Donte's mother asks the town people to stop. The victims mother, I don't know how I should feel about her. She loved her Daughter ,would hog any publicity to show how distraught she was and blatantly emphasized on the fact that only Donte and no other person was the killer. When the truth was out, it's hard to say if she took it well.

So we got a bogus trial based on a bogus confession. Innocent man gets executed. But wait, there's politics involved. Lawyers and politics a very bad dish indeed. You got the prosecutor who only cares about retiring with successfully winning a case from Flak and a governor who's worried about how much votes he's up in the polls. These people are so casual about the fact that a girl was murdered, that they might have sent an innocent man to jail, so worried about losing their positions that the fact that they lied and cheated mean nothing to them.

This is a great book that touches on a controversial topic, should any state or country be allowed to execute people? is this even a relevant question,seeing as it's already something  happening in many countries and is now normal. Or is it just stupid to argue it now because we have ethical problems with it? I don't pay taxes, but would you be comfortable knowing your money is going to inadvertently allow the state to kill another person, yes a criminal, are criminals not people anymore? I think it was also mentioned that it costs more to be able to execute people,whereby people have to pay more taxes. The priest in the book stayed in the background  all he did was bring Boyyette to Texas. He witnessed Donte get executed. He was just a priest, never preached about anything controversial. He was neutral but after this experience with Boyette. He found something to preach about. I found something to think about and two lawyers I might actually like (which is probably not saying much seeing as one's my uncle and the other one is fictional). This book has something to say, so why not pick it up

*the level of objectivity in this review (might be) is zero

Grade:

Roses Are Red (Alex Cross #6 ) by James Pateterson

The Mastermind orchestrates a series of bank robberies that are notable for their precise demands-and their explosive violence when demands are not met exactly. Detective Alex Cross takes on the case and recognizes that a particular kind of criminal mind is at work. Cross's investigation gets under the Mastermind's skin, and he makes it his personal goal to take revenge on Cross and his entire team.

Amidst all this, Cross's relationship with his girlfriend Christine is falling apart, and his beloved daughter Jannie is hospitalized with unexplained seizures. The pressure rises on every front, culminating in a shocking and explosive climax.GOODREADS

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This is my first James Patterson book and I have to admit it's pretty amazing. I've come across this guy's name on goodreads and I've skimmed through one or two of his books in the library( I'm ashamed to admit). I always assumed he was just another thriller writer. I was sourly mistaken, he is indeed a thriller writer but he's done something to make this genre  his own. Paterson has created one of the most compassionate, sympathetic, upstanding, humane , accomplished and  kindest male leads I've ever met in fiction.

Roses Are Red  is a thrilling emotional roller coaster ride. A moving book filled with action, crime, drama and some romancing ( I guess). Alex gets drawn into a case by his friend/colleague , Kyle Graig. The case involves bank robberies and murders. The person behind this calls himself the Mastermind. The very first chapter starts off with the first robbery. They get the money but kill the managers family (who they were holding as hostages) , at the second robbery they kill the people in the bank, then there's the third attack , this time a kidnapping of a bus load of people, who they let  go alive. There's no pattern, and this confuses Cross and the other cops on the case. Eventually they get a lead and catch Fredrick Szabo. Catching Szabo and the evidence that proofs he's the Mastermind is only the beginning of the game: "are you the mastermind". When Cross catches Szabo, his words to Cross  are "you've got he wrong guy" .They later follow another lead  (inspired by the inconsistencies of the Masterminds description). This leads them to Dr Francis, Szabo's psychologist. They go to take him in but he runs and then kills himself. What are his last words to Cross? you guessed it : "you got the wrong guy". So then who the hell IS the Mastermind?!

Other then catching the bad guy the book also focuses on Cross's family life , his daughter ends up in the hospital after having seizures and his relationship with this woman Christine is on the rocks. At first I thought the whole thing was unnecessary information but after a while , it turns out Cross's family life and other relationships with people is important to understanding Cross himself and what motivates him to work. Cross wants to make his side of Washington (his neighborhood) a safe place again. He does his best because he doesn't want to disappoint his family. In a way this is a moving book. Cross is a moving character.

There's this scene where Cross finally accepts Besty's (fellow FBI agent) offer to "get a drink" they end up in her hotel room and Cross breaks down. All the stress , his daughter , Christine and the Mastermind. He breaks down and cries.

"Let's just hug "she said. "I think we both need hugs. Hugs are good."

I'm not a hugging person, but at this point even I needed a hug.

It's a wild and interesting ride to catch the Mastermind, there are some running after the bad guys scenes, a scene where the FBI and local authorities take down the  bad cops, and the part where the kidnappers lead Cross and his team on a train to drop off the ransom money, all the while wearing them out. It's written really well and the situations are described well . The chapters are all relatively short and the book is divided into 6 parts. The first part (prologue) is called ashes to ashes  and part five is called all fall down. I mention this because it's eerie and because it correlates with the title. Roses Are Red. If you remember the nursery rime:

Ring-a-round a rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.¹

Then we have the other titles in the Alex Cross series: like the earlier books all seem to have names from nursery rhymes or fairy tales.  The nursery rhyme "Roses Are Red" is also one of Cross's daughters  favorites in this book, she often sings it while dancing/twirling with the cat ( or so it's described in the book, I hate cats).

So how does it end? after all that, is the reader then left with no resolution? because that's how I felt. It didn't add up. I just couldn't believe any of those guys were the Mastermind. Throughout the book we get glimpses into the guys head. but do not fear, there was an epilogue fittingly titled The Right Guy. I can't say I was surprised or shocked, because I'd expected it to be a cop ,somebody on the inside. but I was pissed. the Mastermind is none other then........... Kyle Graig, Cross's friend! this is where you punch the book ( literally). I've gotten so attached to Cross that finding out that Graig, his friend, could hurt him is just infuriating!! It's unjust, mean, evil. goddamn! But all that being said this was a wonderful ride and introduction into the Alex Cross series (although this was book 6 ).

*no books were hurt during the writing of this review

Grade:

Sleepin with Fear ( A Bishop/ Special Crimes Unit Novel #9 ) by Kay Hooper

New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper returns with a relentless thriller that brings her readers face-to-face with fear itself. In this terrifying new novel, a psychic special agent finds herself caught up in a tangled web of secrets, lies . . . and evil.Riley Crane woke up fully dressed, a gun under her pillow, and covered in blood. Even more frightening, she didn’t remember what happened the night before. In fact, she barely remembered the previous three weeks.An ex—army officer, now a federal agent assigned to the Special Crimes Unit, Riley was a chameleon–a clairvoyant who could blend in with her surroundings, be anyone or anything she chose to be. The SCU’s expert on the occult, she’d been sent to the beachfront cottage on Opal Island by her enigmatic chief, Noah Bishop, to investigate reports of dangerous occult activity. But that was three weeks ago. Now she’s awoken to discover that she’s got a sexy new man in her life and an unreliable memory, and that the clairvoyant abilities she’s always depended on to protect her are MIA. Worse yet, with SCU resources stretched thinner than ever before, Riley is alone and without backup, feeling her way through a deadly game of blindman’s buff, where no one around her is quite who or what they seem. And a bizarre murder is only the first jarring reminder of how high the stakes really are.Bishop wants Riley off the case. So does powerful local D.A. Ash Prescott. Both her old retired army buddy Gordon Skinner and Sheriff Jake Ballard believe she can catch a vicious killer. But one of these four men knows exactly what’s going on in this coastal community, and that’s knowledge Riley desperately needs. For what Riley can’t remember is more than enough to cost her her life. This time evil isn’t just closer than she thinks–it’s already there.
From the Hardcover edition.GOODREADS

This is a book I picked up at the library and I have to say it was quite a ride. It's really well written and the characters are interesting and funny. Maybe a bit cliche and predictable. The premise of the story was worked out really well. I mean Riley wakes up covered in blood and has no memory of the past 3 weeks. One of her job strategies is she can pretend to be anybody so she pretends she's the same .

Riley has no memory of the 3 weeks and on the  same day she wakes up a body is discovered and she also finds out she's been sleeping with the local D.A. Again she has no memory about any of this. Riley is also a psychic, and her abilities have gone AWOL . Riley is a likable character ,she's independent and likes working alone. If there's a fight she'd go in alone, because she thinks it's her duty not to put the people she cares about in danger.

The murder is surrounded by an occult theme in the book. Riley specializes in the occult so that's why she was brought in. Ash is described as not quite handsome but attractive in a butch way. He's too good to be true for the romance part of this book, Ash is too good to be true. I mean he's  like the Beast and he can cook and is well read, too damn good to be true! Then there's Jake, the Sheriff (with a jock complex). He's character is good for some comic affect.

The mystery: like all mystery novels you try to figure out who the bad guy is. Riley is on this beach island and when the villain is revealed It wasn't really that shocking. The list of suspects was short and obvious. You could easily speculate who it would be and then one by one (at the end of the book) rule them out.

Unfortunately my library only has one other book from this series ,so I can't really get into it. Although it is a fun book to read.


Grade:

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

If you've never read a Dan Brown novel  then you've missed out on a mind blowing reading experience.

The lost symbol is another Robert Langdon adventure. This time it's set in Washington D.C, particularly The Library of Congress, The Rotunda, The Temple House , The Capitol Building. and The Washington National Cathedral.

This book is brilliant and a page turner. full of facts ,action,adventure and great thought provoking arguments about mysticism, God and the strenght of the human mind.

plot:
Langdon get's tricked into coming to Washington by somebody posing as his friend, Peter Solomon(a well known mason). At Langdon's arrival he gets a phone call. The impostor, Mal'akh , has Peter hostage and if Langdon wants his friend back he must solve The Ancient Mysteries .

I loved the way The Library of Congress is described in this book or maybe I'm just fascinated by the thought of a giant library. and after reading this book . The Library of Congress must really be "giant' if  it needs conveyor belts to transport books from one section to the other.

The lead character Robert Langdon is a symbologist and a well known character if you've read Angels & Demons or Da Vince Code. or seen the movies.

In previous Langdon novels . Langdon always seems to have a female sidekick. In this book I thought it would be Inou Sato, CIA agent. Which at first I liked the thought of because it would be something different from the other books. Agent Sato is described as a hardass, most of her agents fear her, she's short and has a deep voice. At first Langdon thought she was a man. She turned out not to be the lead female protagonist which turned out for the best because as her character developed she became problematic to actually saving Peter Solomon's life. She's an annoying,uncooperative,suspicious hardass.
Katherine Solomon, Peter's sister, turns out to be the female lead. She joins Langdon later and helps him solve the pyramid puzzle.

The surprise!
The bad guy, Mal'akh. The suspected murderer of Peter Solomon's son Zachary. It turns out Mal'akh IS Zachary. He faked his own death! I suspected this but everything contradicted this because Zachary=Mal'akh=Andros convinced himself he was no longer Zachary but Mal'akh. He had 'tranformed".

This is probably why I read Dan Brown's books. I love the surprises and a good conspiracy. Angels & Demons and Deception Point are good examples thereof. Especially Deception Point , that was like chocolate cake. Although in this aspect The Lost Symbol failed to "surprise me".

Another reason to love this book or  any Dan Brown novel is the history and the symbolism he incorporates into his stories.  You will never put down one of this guy's books without learning something interesting.

Book excerpt:
" the Apocalypse is not the end of the world, but rather it is the end of the world as we know it"
So is dec.21.2012 the supposed end of the world  actually the beginning of a  new age of enlightenment. Well isn't that an interesting thought.

Alberch Durer- Melencolia I

Depicts mankinds struggle to comprehend The Ancient Mysteries

Grade: 

             O

Review: Nightlife ( Cal Leandros #1) by Rob Thurman

There are monsters among us. There always have been and there always will be. I’ve known that since I can remember, just like I’ve always known I was one . . . 
. . . Well, half of one, anyway. 
Welcome to the Big Apple. There’s a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side – and that’s only the beginning. Of course, most humans are oblivious to the preternatural nightlife around them, but Cal Leandros is only half human. 
His father’s dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares – and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal. Why? Cal hasn’t exactly wanted to stick around long enough to find out. 
He and his half brother, Niko, have managed to stay a step ahead for four years, but now Cal’s dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they’ve always wanted him: He is the key to unleashing their hell on earth. The fate of the human world will be decided in the fight of Cal’s life . . .

I started reading this last year then put it aside. That in no way means the book is boring, I suppose if I had a physical copy I would have finished it way earlier. 

Cal is named after a character from the Tempest, Caliban.  Caliban(from The Tempest) is a halfbreed,born of a demon and a witch. Cal is also a halfbreed although nobody knows of what. I like this book. It was funny, action packed and full of monsters. If you're a fan of Supernatural then you'll love this book.

Cal and Niko's relationship is a lot like Sam and Dean's. Niko's the oldest and looks out for Cal.  Cal's the little brother who has issues because he's actually half something evil. He thinks he's a monster and that Niko should acknowledge that fact.  Niko refuses ,to believe that Cal could be evil, by not calling him by his full name "Caliban". 

The story is about how the auphe want to open a gate and return to a much preferred time where they ruled earth. If they succeed then the present time(world /mankind) ends. To open this gate they need a key and the key just happens to be "Cal". The first chapters are funny to read. A lot of banter between the brothers. They suspect something's wrong/going on and are getting ready to run again. In their need of a car they meet Goodfellow (THE Robin Goodfellow), who tells them a lot about the auphe and grendels and sheds light on their predicament. Goodfellow becomes their friend and informant.

The story picks up when Cal gets possessed by the Darkling. The Darkling merges with Cal's body as to open the door.The book is told from Cal's pov but there's no Cal after the merging. There's just a lot of narrative from the very very arrogant Darkling.  I'm talking my-god-shut-up-arrogant!!

After that the story picks up a nice pace. A lot of fighting and  saving the world. 

I guess the resolution is Cal accepting who he is. He's a monster but not necessarily evil.

"I watched Catcher cavort under a scarlet sky and marveled at the beauty of him. He might not be a human,but neither was he a monster. The lack of one didn't necessarily equal the other. There was something so simple about that,yet it had taken me until now to figure it out. Catcher was no monster and neither was I" ~Cailban

Grade: 

E

Review; I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

Meet Ed Kennedy — underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . . 

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

After having read The Book Thief , it's safe to say that Markus Zusak is on my list of awesome writers. That being said I had to check out some of his other works . I Am The Messenger is different from The Book Thief but it's just as brilliant. It's great, it's amusing, it makes you feel . It makes you care.

A lot of bad things happen in the world, your city, your town, your street. What can I possibly do to stop it? change it? It's a hopeless case. I'm too small and insignificant to really do anything. To really change anything? so why care. I've always thought this. I think we've all felt like this, but we still care . We still try. 

"If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, then maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of."

Ace of Diamond

Ed Kennedy is the epitome of ordinary. The story starts with him, a cabdriver, and how he saves the day when he catches a bankrobber. That's where it all begins. After the robbery Ed gets the ace of diamonds in his mail with 3 addresses on it. He goes to these addresses. One belongs to an old woman who's lonely, one to a girl who runs barefoot, and the third belongs to a guy who comes home drunk everyday and rapes his wife. The drunk was the first address Ed went to. He's shocked and scared but what can he possibly do? He's a coward and he knows it. Because he can't save the woman, he can't save the daughter who hears what's happening in the other room. He can't do shit. So he goes to the other addresses. He finds a way to help those people. The people who sent him the card later send him a gun too. Ed uses it on the drunk. He's scared, he doesn't want to hurt anybody, not even the drunk who rapes his wife each night. In the end it all works out. Ed helps these people.

Ace of Cloves

"Say a prayer at the stones of home"

Ed gets another card. Ace of cloves. This time there are no addresses just a sentence"say a prayer at the stones of time". Ed's a cab driver so when a guy tries to run off without paying the fair, he goes after him. He ends up at the river near his home where he and his brother use to fish. He finds a stone with the next 3 people on it. A priest, whose church nobody visits. The rose brothers who always fight. A young mother with 3 kids.  Ed helps these people with free beer, by getting beat up and by simply buying someone an ice cream.

Ace of Spades

I like this part because I recognized one of the names on the card. Graham Greene. This card had 3 names on it of writers. After having a dream Ed figures it out too. This time he has to help a family with lights, a theater owner and his mom. Ed's mom sure is a character. She curses like it's a hobby and treats Ed badly. Ed confronts her. She thinks Ed's just like his father and useless. I felt for Ed."It takes a lot of love to hate you like this" his mom says.

Ace of Hearts

Ed was afraid of the ace of hearts the most. Although it's the last card and means it's almost the end.

"People die of broken hearts .They have heart attacks.And it's the heart that hurts the most when things go wrong and fall apart"

Ed was right to fear the ace of hearts. On this card there are 3 movie titles on it. It turns out to be 3 people who are important to him. His best friends. Ritchie, the laziest, Marv the smart ass and Audrey who doesn't want to love and who Ed's in love with.

I can relate to Ritchie. Ritchie is always the laid back one of the group. At first Ed didn't know or couldn't imagine what problem Ritchie could possibly have. Ritchie wants to want. He doesn't have ambition. He doesn't know what to do with his life. He sits in his kitchen each night listening to the radio. Ed helps him aswell. Simply by telling him what a useless bastard he is.

Then there's Marv. The cheapskate ,smart ass Marv with the crappiest car ever. Marv has been saving up money for years . He has almost 40k in the bank. In the end it turns out Marv loved a girl with all his heart. The girl's family moved when she got pregnant . Marv didn't know his girl was pregnant till it was too late. Everyday he makes it through but in the end he breaks down. and he can hear his heart crying. Hurting. For the little girl/boy out there. 

Then there's Audrey. He just dances with her. So simple? but it was more than that. Ed loves the girl. She loves Ed, but wants somebody else. Why is love so complicated. He just dances with her. 3 minutes . Just for 3 minutes they love each other.

You'd think that was the end but no Ed gets another card . The joker. The address on the card is his. Ed spends weeks worrying  about what's gonna happen. Who's coming. Who sent the cards? It was a shocker. Throughout the book I was wondering the same thing. and I went for the obvious people. Audry, his ma, in the end I even thought it was his dad. The shocking thing is when it turns out to be  the robber.

At the end of a good book when things are clearing up. It's the best and saddest part. Best because now you get to know who's behind everything , sad because the book's ending. The person behind everything. I think is Markus Zusak in the book. I think he wrote himself in. At first I thought it was the big guy. I loved the ending chapters. I'm telling you this is a great book. Ed Kennedy wasn't the messenger. He is the message. We can't just live for the sake of living. We have to live, feel, want. Be alive.

Ed's a very kind and caring guy. He's also a ordinary guy. If he can do what he did then anybody can.

Grade : O